Hi, Jo and I made it to Oz in one piece! Arrived in Cairns about a week ago now and stayed in a really nice hostel. Didnt get up to much of a productive start, we ventured into town to see what the Aussies had to offer us, only to discover that everyone here is in fact Irish too, alas we could do nothing but drink the night away... Good fun and the next day we recovered nicely after eating the best sandwiches in the world ever (see photos!).

On Saturday the day we had been waiting for finally arrived!! The Van Day!! We paid for our Wicked campervan hire, eyes beaming with optimism, only to find we have purchased pretty much the most gothic, unfeminine van in the whloe of Australia - it has skulls and blazing fire on the side - not quite the Babes on Tour look we had anticipated! Nonetheless off we headed down to Mission Beach, she drives quite nicely although Jo and i can hardly reach the pedals and bearing in mind we arent the shortest people i know i'd strongly advise that Vicky, Natalie (and Mat - tee hee!) avoid hiring a Wicked camper!

Not much going down at Mission Beach, the weather was fairly poor and Jo and i arent the most adventurous chefs so it was omelete and salad before bedtime at 8.30, what crazy party animals we are. On Saturday we had a great day rafting on the River Tully, our guide and raft mates were all pretty cool and we successfully avoided drowning and injury although Jo seemed to have lost her balance mechanism that day and got flattened by another raft, kept landing on my lap and there was also some unfortunate head in crotch action as she unsuccessfully tried to pull me out of the water! Very fun day all in all.

Finally we arrived in Airlie Beach and on Monday took a fantastic catamaran cruise around the Whitsunday islands. We saw dolphins, whales and a turtle and played some beach cricket with a daft hen party on Whitehaven beach. It was a great day topped off by the fact that our resort in Long Island was amazing! There were kangaroos bouncing around everywhere and parots, 2 pools, a hot tub, tennis courts, mini golf, a gym and a helipad too! We decided it was a close to our honeymoon as we are probably ever going to get (calling all potential husbands to top it please!). After 2 suntanning days we are back at Airlie, ready to jump in the van for a 1000km extravaganza - wish us luck! Hope all is good at home, Havie and Jo x